


Pink

by sunflowerjohnny



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Makeover, Not Beta Read, Writing Exercise, i'm a bit rusty so please excuse this mess of a fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 03:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17758826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowerjohnny/pseuds/sunflowerjohnny
Summary: The love of his life is his best friend’s sister. She was the tiny girl with a lot of spunk who played football and the guitar. She also loved getting down and dirty while fixing up cars. And, Gendry is going to be cringy for a bit, she was the emo princess of his dreams





	Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! 
> 
> So, this is inspired by Maisie William's pink hair. She posted a picture on her instagram story and, thus, this fic is born.
> 
> Please forgive my awkward and sloppy writing. I haven't been writing much lately so I'm a bit rusty. Think of this is a practice or exercise fic until I get the hang of it again. Also, these are two fics combing into one. The second one starts at Gendry's pov.
> 
> I will post the picture at the end.

Who is Arya Stark?

Well, Arya Stark is the second daughter and the sixth child of Ned and Catelyn Stark. She is well known for her athleticism, quick wit, her humor and her intelligence. She is also known as the Boy Next Door. No, seriously. Arya has always been one of the guys. Instead of learning about makeup and crushing on every cute boy and hot celebrity like her sister Sansa, she learned how to play football and memorized each car brand and the years they were released in. While Sansa had her room painted in a pale pink color with white décor, Arya painted her room an ocean blue color that was hidden by the clutters of posters. Lastly, as Sansa became an expert in fashion, Arya mastered the electric guitar.

Arya and Sansa were so different from each other but, that didn’t mean they didn’t love each other. They always supported one another and when that shit head Joffrey Baratheon unleashed his anger on sweet little Sansa, Arya was there to give him a new nose with a lovely black eye. And when Arya needed help convincing their mother to go to this metal rock concert, Sansa was there for her.

Arya Stark is currently in her room looking at photo albums from her childhood. It’s currently Christmas break and she was back home to visit her family. Being in her senior year of college made her feel a bit nostalgic. Can you believe that the once rebellious girl who skipped classes is about to graduate from college in an honor’s degree in Engineering Mechanics? She couldn’t believe it either.

Looking at photos of her losing her first tooth brought a chuckle from her lips. And when she saw the picture of herself hitting Sansa right in the face with a snowball had Arya wheezing at the crying face of Sansa. She felt herself cringe when she spotted the picture of herself getting her first emo haircut to look like Gerard Way. Pictures of her in Hot Topic filled 7th grade and she honestly wanted to scream. 9th grade she decided to chop all of hair off and that earned her the nickname Boy Next Door. Well, to be fair, Arya has always been mistaken for a boy due to her personality but with her shorter hair, people were convinced she is one. As a teenager, Arya didn’t really care all that much. But, as an adult, it does make her feel a bit sad. She loved her short hair but she noticed a pattern in her pictures. She always had the same style. Black clothes, short hair and heavy eyeliner. She admits that they were fun at that time and she thought she looked beautiful but perhaps it’s time for a change? Arya bit her lip at the thought. Perhaps it was because of her almost graduating and looking at the pictures that made her so emotional? Arya did change once she was in college: She wore different styles of clothing (still dark colors though), she grew out her hair a bit and she started liking some of the girlie things that Sansa likes too.

“Arya, lunch’s ready!” Came her mother’s voice from downstairs.

With a big sigh, Arya closed the photo album and slid it under the bed before getting up and making her way out of her room and down the stairs. But before that, she stopped in front of her mirror that was hung on the wall next to her bedroom door. She looked at her reflection and couldn’t help but reach her hand upwards and touch her hair. Her hair now was just a few shy inches below her ears. She still looks like a boy but thanks to her physique, she obviously looks like a girl. Her skin was bare of any makeup and it showed just how exhausting college can be. The bags under her eyes were deep and grey, her skin dry and small pimples scattered here and there. Shrugging, Arya made her way downstairs.

The Stark household has always been hectic. What with six children running around and then having their friends coming over for lunch or dinner. Luckily, The Starks were loaded so they lived in a big house and could manage living in a crowded space.

As Arya bypassed her brother Bran and side stepped Robb, she accidentally came in contact with a firm body.

“Sorry there, Arry.” A thick accent reached Arya’s ears.

“It’s Arya.” She corrected the man with a hint of irritation in her voice and a glare in her eyes.

The man had a look of amusement as he said, “You’ll always be Arry.” Before walking off to the kitchen.

Arya rolled her eyes heavily and made her way to the dining room.

That was Gendry Waters, Jon’s childhood best friend and Arya’s enemy. Ever since they were younger Gendry teased Arya. He steals her favorite candy, he taunts her when her team loses against his team and he was the reason people started calling her Arry from 6th till 11th grade. When her feminine features began to show, people stopped calling her Arry and addressed her as Arya, her birth name. Gendry, however, didn’t seem to get the clue.

“Hey Arya.” Sansa greeted as she plated the table, “Why the long face?” she asked once she saw her sister step into the dining room.

Arya reached her hand up and touched her face as if to make sure that Sansa was telling the truth. Once she felt the frown, she shrugged and took a seat. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh oh, that can’t be good.” Sansa snorted before taking a seat next to her sister and waited for everyone else to join them.

“I don’t know. I’m about to graduate college but I don’t feel happy about it? I mean I do because I worked my ass off and I’m ready for it to be over but I feel like there’s something missing?”

“Like what?”

Arya shrugged her shoulders, “Like I need something new in my life. I was looking at our photo albums and I feel like everyone grew up and matured except for me. I still look the same and I’m kind of tired?”

“Can it be?” Sansa fake gasped, “Arya Stark, are you saying you want to move on from The Emo Life?”

Arya rolled her eyes but couldn’t contain the smile that was forming on her lips at her sister’s dramatics, “I guess.” She replied, “But I don’t know how.”

“Are you free tomorrow?” Sansa asked her, a plan already forming in her mind.

“Yeah, but why?”

“First, I need to know that this change is for you and not for some stupid boy.”

Arya snorted at her sister and quickly replied, “No, it’s for me.”

Sansa smiled brightly before saying, “Then the first step to changing is done. You wanting to change for yourself is actually the most difficult thing. So many people say they want to change but they’re empty words. You have to mean it and actually do it. So, tomorrow, You and I are going shopping.”

Arya had a panicked look on her face and opened her mouth to say something but Sansa already beat her to it.

“I promise you’ll only have three sets of pinks. But, you need to dress in lighter colored clothes. You can keep the black though it’s too classy to give up.”

At that, Arya smiled at her sister.

 

Arya was staring down at her opened suitcase. Shopping with Sansa was an energy draining experience, however, she did buy so many new clothes. From crop tops to high necks and from leggings to skinny jeans. Shorts, skirts, you name it! And, somehow, as if struck by lightning, Arya bought more than three (3) sets of pinks. The color began to grow on her and she honestly doesn’t know why she hated it so many years ago. Internal misogyny was Sansa’s reply.

As Arya boarded the train to return to King’s Landing, she began to think of her sister’s words.

“Arya, I know that you love your short hair and I do think it looks great on you but it’s been ten years now and I think it’s time to move on.” The eldest sister was helping Arya pack as she uttered those words. Sansa knows that Arya wants her hair short so that she can defy social norms and beauty standards but since Arya needed a change, her hair should go through one as well.

“You’re right.” Arya had said as she dumped underwear and bras into her suitcase, making Sansa frown at her messiness. “I’ve been actually growing it out for a while but that was only because I was too busy to cut it.”

“So you’re almost there. You don’t have to grow it out as long as mine but maybe try shoulder length? It’s still short enough to fit your ideology but long enough for a new look.” At Sansa’s words, Arya couldn’t help but to feel a burst of excitement rush through her. She can’t wait till her hair grows out.

 

Gendry Waters is in love and it’s shaking up his world.

It may seem like a small thing but Gendry Waters doesn’t do _love_. Hell, he doesn’t even understand the concept of it. With the way he was brought up – his dad abandoning him and his mother while they fought to survive poverty and starvation – he wasn’t even sure he’d be capable of such a thing.

But here he is now, hearing bells ringing in his ears as he received a new notification from Instagram. Quickly unlocking his phone, he clicked on the app and went to her profile. To say that Gendry is surprised is an understatement. The picture he was looking at left him breathless, his heart tightening at her beauty and his stomach was filled with butterflies.

Shakily, he tapped on the phone to type out a comment below the picture of the love his life (shut up it’s true).

_The_Bull: what did you do to your hair?_

The love of his life is his best friend’s sister. She was the tiny girl with a lot of spunk who played football and the guitar. She also loved getting down and dirty while fixing up cars. And, Gendry is going to be cringy for a bit, she was the emo princess of his dreams. What with her black attire, her love for rock and her wicked short hair, how can she not steal his heart?

But the girl in the Instagram photo is no longer that girl. For she had her hair tied in a ponytail, light makeup painted her face and she had some rings decorating her fingers. But that wasn’t the thing that shocked Gendry. It was the fact that her hair, that was as black as midnight, is now a bubblegum pink color. Gendry wasn’t sure how to feel about this new look but he knows that she looked beautiful nonetheless. Especially with how the sun brought out her grey eyes in the picture.

Gendry’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of receiving a new notification from Instagram. Again, with shaky fingers, he tapped on the app and clicked on her photo to read her response.

_She_Wolf: wanted to try something new_

And something new it was! It’s a complete 180 of what she used to look like and Gendry doesn’t know for how long Arya had been trying to change herself. She hasn’t been posting much pictures lately. The last picture she had was after she returned to King’s Landing and how she was ready to kick the last semester’s ass and get her degree. Perhaps Arya wanted to surprise everyone with her new look? And surprise everyone she did.

For when The Stark family, plus Gendry, arrived at King’s Landing Train Station, they all cooed and awed at their baby girl. Arya was dressed in a white sun dress with her pink locks curled into perfection. She had a pastel yellow eyeshadow and her lips were coated in a peach color that Gendry desperately wanted to kiss.

“Hey, Arry.” Was what Gendry did instead. He was not in the mood to hear a lecture from 5 of the male siblings and receive one of Sansa’s infamous glares. No thank you.

“Hey, Gendry.”

Gendry tried not to furrow his eyebrows but Arya’s response threw him off guard. In all of the years that Gendry had called Arya _Arry_ , she never once greeted him back. Always had to correct him before rolling her eyes and walking way. This new change is doing wonders.

As the Stark family made their way to their hotel, Gendry couldn’t help but to observe Arya. She had changed so much yet she is still the same. She still had the boyish behavior that she can’t seem to get rid of but she seems much happier than before, as if she is at peace with herself. Gendry watched as Arya laughed freely with Jon and Sansa. Watched as Arya try to be closer to her mother despite their differences and their troubles they shared in the past. It’s a big change…but change is good.

 

“Alright, Arya dear. Smile!” Catelyn Stark instructed her youngest daughter after the graduation ceremony has ended. Gendry tried not to groan at Mrs. Stark and her obsession with taking pictures (of the campus, Arya’s classrooms, her old dorms, her friends, etc.) but he supposed it was cute. But they were tired and hungry after waking up at 6 am to attend Arya’s graduation ceremony at 8 am and it’s well past 2 pm. If they don’t eat soon, Gendry would be frowning all day and, honestly, no one wanted that.

“Mom, stop.” Arya whined adorably at her mother.

Despite being at King’s Landing for three days, Gendry is still not used to this new Arya. Her acting all cute and wearing colorful clothes. It’s like he’s meeting someone new yet when he talked to her, he’s still talking to the spunky emo girl from their school days.

“Just one more picture, I promise.” Catelyn replied back after Ned had nudged her to hurry up. Three pictures later (Catelyn snapped them pretty quick though), they were on their way to some fancy restaurant with a French name that Gendry couldn’t pronounce for the life of him.

It was a loud and joyful lunch. The Starks didn’t stop talking even when their food arrived. They just had this ability to talk about everything and nothing could stop them. They two youngest, Bran and Rickon were talking about some computer game, Robb and Arya were talking about jobs and politics, Sansa and Jon were talking about their significant others while Ned and Catelyn talked about whatever old people talk about. And Gendry sat in the middle of all of that and would join in on the conversation as much as he can.

After lunch, the family decided to walk around the city and just have a relaxing day. Maybe go to the park or someplace quiet.

“New look.” Gendry commented once he and Arya were walking side by side.

The pink haired girl gave a small smile, “It is.”

“I like it.”

Arya snorted at his comment but didn’t say anything else as she followed her family.

“Why the sudden change?” Gendry asked, not wanting for the conversation to die out. It’s odd, really. Gendry had been in love with Arya since his Junior year of high school and he never had any problems talking to the girl. But, with her new look, it was a bit difficult.

Arya shrugged her shoulders, “I feel like I needed to move on, you know? Start a new chapter in my life.” She replied.

Gendry nodded his head, “I get that.” He isn’t sure but, he has a feeling he never really changed. He’s still the same old Gendry with the same clothing style.

“Do you like this new change?” He asked her minutes later after some silence had passed.

“Yes,” Arya quickly replied, “I’m still me on the inside. I’d kick your ass anytime and place but I also would be hella upset if I ruined my new shoes doing so.”

Gendry had to snort at her. He was a strong man and was the captain of the wrestling team and an undefeated champion at that, however, Arya Stark proved that those things don’t matter and she easily won against him.

“Besides,” she spoke up, “It’s weird that girls have been hating the color pink and all things girly because they wanted to be different from all the other girls when it’s actually internal misogyny that made us that way.”

“I see that.” There was a time when Arya would cry if her mother forced her to wear anything pink and would complain how people would only see her as some bimbo. She would spill drinks or food onto her clothes just so she could change out of them into something darker, more her style.

“Sansa wears pink all the time and she’s a kick ass lawyer.” Gendry commented.  

“That’s because she was obsessed with Elle Woods and had the spawn of Satan as an ex-boyfriend.” Arya chuckled which caused Gendry to smile.

 

When Arya moved back to Winterfell, she and Sansa decided to live in an apartment together. Thanks to college and them being far apart from each other, their relationship grew stronger than ever. Both of them began to understand each other more and look past their pride and stubbornness. So, them living together was ideal.

“So, any plans for tomorrow?” Sansa asked her sister while plopping down on the off white couch after a long day of furnishing their apartment.

“Gendry and I are going to this new coffee shop downtown.” Arya replied as she tapped her reply in the chatroom between her and friends from King’s Landing.

“Ooohh, is it a _date_?” Sansa wiggled her eyebrows as she bumped into the pink haired girl.

Arya pushed her sister off as she replied, “It’s nothing like that.”

“I bet you want it to be.” The red head said in a sing-song voice.

“How’s Sandor?” Arya asked wickedly with a teasing tone of voice. That made her sister shut up and Arya couldn’t help but laugh at how Sana’s face turned red.

“What about him?” she muttered while twirling a lock of hair between her fingers.

“You _love_ him.” Arya stated while making kissy faces at her older sister.

“I do not!” and that was the start of a pillow fight.

 

Summer was ending and Autumn was right around the corner. It wasn’t too cold so Arya wasn’t too upset to walk the five blocks to the new coffee shop.

When she stepped in, she was greeted by the powerful aroma and soft jazz music reached her ears as her eyes scanned for Gendry.

“Over here!” She heard his voice from her left. Turning, she spotted him sitting by the large windows, coffee already on the table.

“One salted caramel mocha for you,” Gendry said while sliding the frozen drink across the table as Arya removed her jacket and took a seat on the brown chair, “And one black coffee for me.”

“So edgy.” Arya rolled her eyes then proceeded to take large gulps of her drink and only pausing when brain freeze started forming.

The two talked for hours about everything; work, life, music, food, movies. At some point, the soft jazz music changed into old songs from the 60’s-80’s but they were mostly ballads. They were nice and comforting, providing a relaxing atmosphere. Arya suspects that this is going to be her new favorite coffee shop.

“I really like this new look on you, Arya.”

The pink haired girl sharply turned away from the large windows and stared at her childhood friend, her ears heating up. In all her life, Gendry had never used her name before. Always calling her Arry to tease or annoy her.

“What?” she asked softly, her grey eyes never leaving his piercing blue ones.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you since King’s Landing but I never got the chance. You look different, but you look great. You look…you look happy.”

The heat from Arya’s ears traveled to her cheeks and they were tinted a lovely red color that matched her pink her.

“Thanks.” She muttered while taking small sips from her almost empty drink while looking away from Gendry.

He smiled then looked down at his phone, “Gotta go.” He said standing up.

Arya tried not to frown as she looked up at him, “Work?” she asked him.

“I’m afraid so.” He joked while putting on his jacket, “Where should our second date be?”

Arya choked on her drink at Gendry’s question, “D-date?” she wheezed as she tried to inhale air into her lungs.

Gendry nodded with a serious look, “This is our first date and I picked the location. For our second one you should pick the next location.”

Arya blinked at the man before replying, “Vapiano?” her answer was more like a question but Gendry smiled none the less.

“Cool. Pick you up at 7 on Friday.” Leaning down, Gendry pecked Arya’s head before heading out.

“What the fuck?” Arya breathed out to the empty space.

As if snapped out of a trance, she quickly fished out her phone from her pocket and texted Sansa.

_Gendry asked me out on a second date???_

_Today was our first????????_

Seconds later, Arya almost threw away her phone at Sansa’s reply.

_I told you! ;D_

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The ending was inspired by a Gendrya blog I follow on tumblr. Thank you for your help ^^ <3
> 
> [tumblr](https://johnnyuten.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](https://twitter.com/itskenickie)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/itskenickie)


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